Some of the Parts

It may be true that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But sometimes the parts are important or fascinating all on their own. And how the parts fit in is essential to how the whole functions.

That's the idea behind Boise State Public Radio's podcast, Some of the Parts. Reporter-turned-podcaster Adam Cotterell tells the stories of some of the small groups of people that are part of Idaho. They may be marginalized. They may be powerful. But they're all voices you don't hear very often on radio or TV. Or in some cases, maybe you didn't even know they existed.

In 2014 there was intense news coverage about tens of thousands of unaccompanied children and teens showing up on the U.S. border seeking asylum. Many of them are still in the country and a few are in Idaho. In our final episode of Some of the Parts, we hear the stories of two of those formally unaccompanied minors and learn how they got to Idaho.

At a time in our country when anti-Muslim sentiment is running high, we talk to women in Boise about what it’s like to wear a hijab, a traditional head scarf. In this episode of Some of the Parts, you'll hear stories of walking the streets (and grocery store aisles) of Boise while openly, obviously, visibly Muslim.

LGBT people experience homelessness in disproportionately high numbers and Boise is no exception. In episode six of Some of the Parts, we hear from a lesbian and a transgender woman about what it's like living on the streets of Boise, Idaho.

A lot of born-and-raised Idahoans put a mental box around anyone who moves in from out of state. In our fifth episode, we look at that native/newcomer divide through the perspective of someone from the part of the country with the fewest people who move to Idaho.

Love and dating and finding a mate can be difficult no matter where you are. But they may be even harder if you live on a farm in Idaho. In episode four, we chat up a couple of farmers who tell their stories of dating and love and the struggle to find that 'connection' while working on a farm.

The tent camp in an alley called Cooper Court put homelessness at the forefront of Boise’s collective conscience like nothing else had in recent memory. In episode two of Some of the Parts, we check in with some of its residents one year after Boise Police cleared the alley.

In this debut episode, what happens when you’re part of two communities that don’t get along? Hear one person’s story of trying to be part of two groups and not feeling at home anywhere. Denying either might mean truly belonging in the other but can you choose to deny part of who you are?